FreeEarCandy

Its a very nice song, but this needs better management as many here have already suggested.

Thanks Tom! Glad you enjoyed the listen. I'm also happy to hear your critic. I took a look at the E guitar to see what was being rolled off. Looks like its your ears today, as both the E rhythm and E lead guitars are rolling off heavy @ 5k. @ 5k I'm barely pushing -12 and its hardly visible at 6-7k on the scale of 0 to -18 db. Most of the energy is sitting between 500 and 5K for the lead and 300 to 5k for the rhythm. The rhythm is panned wide and the lead is 20% to the right. I try to let the snare, kick and bass take center, and push the lead guitar slightly to the right of all that energy coming down the middle. While I understand that there seems to be some length rules concerning a song, I never quite understood why? Like you, I grew up in a time when we didn't give much consideration to the length of a song (Suppers Ready by Genesis). While this rule may have some value in the commercial end of things today, I'm not really striving to fit into the modern commercial side of things. I just want to go where the song takes me in my own head and leave it at that. I think perhaps Nigel felt that the acoustic guitar intro was unnecessary and should be cut. That's fair enough. However, I prefer to keep the length intact and not worry about trends. I just listened to some electronics tunes that are 8 min. Pink Floyd shine on you crazy diamond is 13 min +. Lyrics don't kick in until 5 or 6 min in. Would anyone want to suggest its too long? I don't think so. As far as the kick, you may have a good point. I generally don't push it that hard, but I was told that these new smart phone listeners need that extra energy in the low end, so I go there now. Seems these new devices and their ear buds are very popular. I feel a bit torn about it myself and I don't know how to accommodate everyone. Sorry if I hurt your ear drums, Tom. Not intentional. Anyway, thank you so much Tom. I really do appreciate hearing the way it comes across on your end, and much of the critic here has indeed helped. Dean

Arrangement and concept wise, it all sounds pretty good. I think there are certain elements that could be louder, like the Steve Hackett style guitar in Forge Of Gravitation. Nevertheless, get it out there and "express yourself". Dean

Very cool. I like the way you panned the drum kick and bass and opened the center for the other instruments. A least that's how it sounded to me. Nice work. Clean and clear. Dean

Its a good song. Interesting inspiration. Seeking attention is the nature of the beast when it comes to communication. Can it be blown out of proportion? Absolutely (the brunette ). Ignoring people is also a problem that can get out of hand (the blond). 2 sides of the same coin-communication. Regarding the break issue you mentioned, relax and think about for awhile. The music is telling you where it wants to go. Don't ignore it.

What's not to like here. I completely enjoyed the walk down memory lane and your take on our current state of affairs. I think from a sound quality approach there is nothing that jumped out at me to mention. I have a friend that has a basement full of vintage stuff, but as hard as I tried I couldn't encourage him to use it. He is more of a collector and it appears he has lost all interest in creating music. The word purpose comes to mind every time I think about it, and perhaps the word would also apply to the theme of this project you posted. Seems there is a different purpose behind todays music that I'm not quite able to adjust to. Dean

I listened to this the other day, but I was feeling so under the weather I didn't comment. The art work looks like Norman Rockwell. The tune is rather simple. Nothing too complex. A bit too long. 0:20 something went briefly out of time. There are 2 things I envy in this. The acoustic guitar tone and that snare tone. Both of which I have been recently battling with. Which AD drum snare did you use for this? Dean

Thank you Nigel!

Out of all I think the master is the winner. Good song!

FEC Studio in collaboration with Home Studio Kurumin (@hskurumin). Classic Rock Tune from the FreeEarCandy 2020 Collection. To be or not to be are "Worlds Apart".

Wonderful low end chug. Killer tone!

Oh hell yeah! What a trip! That's the $hit right there. I went right down the rabbit hole and lost all my tarts. Dean

I think you have a lot of interesting material in this that can go in any direction. I like the pallet of elements used. 2nd listen is telling me, Yeah. I would cut the intro and ride with this horse to the end. No beating necessary. Nice gentle and soft beginning that builds and intensifies to a full gallop. Lean into it. Dean

The clarity is impeccable. There's nothing in this that I can point out. Really good work here. Loved it! Dean

Yeah-Good song! There's a little tension in the guitar cords that I wasn't sure about, but it really worked very nice when the chorus broke out and the bridge brought it all back. I don't care what anyone says, cheap guitars have uses and this proves it. You really found all the sweet spots in its character and gave it a good home in the bed of this track. Well done! There are maybe some minor things here and there that stands out in my mind, but nothing I feel would be of any great help to you, as this is so very close to top grade. I really liked the tune in most all areas. Nice work! Dean.

Thanks, KS Band! Great to hear! Dean

Hello Supa Reels You have a good voice. I think you can move the guitar back and to the sides in the intro more to let the vocals have their own space. I'm picking up a lot of guitar timing issues as well. There's also a lot of energy around 200-500hz? area creating a lot of mud in the low end -mostly in the back and sporadic . Perhaps I'm picking this out because there is no drums. I was waiting for something to break out in the percussion or chord change area that never arrived, so the song seems to just cycle. The lyrics are great. Good story. Nice pictures and video, and as I said, you have a very good voice and delivery. Thanks for sharing it! Dean

Hello Pcode! What were you experimenting with in this project? New instruments-Plugins? My attention went immediately to the sound quality-Real good on my end. As a song its not really something I gravitate towards-a bit too mechanical sounding. Needs more swing, ebbs and flows. Emotionally dry. Nevertheless all the elements fit together in a direction. The video was interesting too, but I agree with Tim Smith on this issue-music doesn't connect to the theme in my mind. Putting aside all my personal tastes, its still has its charms. Dean

Hello Tim! Thanks so much. Really glad you enjoyed the tune. Dean Hey Jesse! Thanks! I put to use some of your good suggestions along with some of the other suggestions made here. I think it improved the track and posted the result above. I really do appreciate all the excellent tips everyone shared here. Dean Hello Bjorn! Thanks! Yes, I'm the same FreeEarCandy from the "Old Cakewalk Forum". I remember you too. I see Wookie is here too. Good to see ya here, Bjorn. Its been awhile. Looking forward to hearing what you have been doing musically lately as time allows. Dean Hello Noynekker! Free Indeed ! So glad you liked the track. Dean Hey Andy! Thank for the nice complement, my friend! Dean

Stop lying! That's you, Ozzy. You can't fool me!

Love it! Groove pulls you in right of way and gets the foot tapping. The funny thing is it sounds a bit down the center, but it still sounds damn good to me and everything sounds like it has plenty of room and separation regardless. Its like a sonic hallucination. The guitar work is slick. @ 1:47 forward- awesome! Dean

The vocals and doubling (i think I heard doubling) are wonderful. Lyrics too! Mix is solid. The melody is catchy and pulls one in easy. The only thing I can perhaps offer as constructive critic is there seems to be a lot of tension between the piano and guitar, as they are both following each other really close in some areas, which comes across to me as too much competition between the 2 and a sense of being too busy and less open. Seems I am looking for more contrast between the 2 or areas where other things can bleed through. Nevertheless, this is a good song indeed. Lots of emotion and feeling behind it, and for me that goes a long way on the path to a good song. Congratulations to all involved. Much enjoyed hearing this. Dean

Nice song writing. Love the guitar atmosphere and organ/key work. Sweet and intimate. Vocals cut in just the way I like them (up front and personal). The only constructive critic I'm able to perhaps give you is there may be some deessing issues here and there, but I'm not sure its that much of a problem in this particular up close and personal style of music. No one else has mentioned it here so its probably a non issue. This is a winner, Steve. Loved it for what it stands for. Dean

Hi Steve! Ha! Cool comment! I'm always looking for like minded people to work with. Maybe something in the future is possible. I have tons of this sort of stuff in my library that can use some attention and perhaps fresh outside input to take them in new directions. Thanks for taking the time to listen to this recent effort and leaving the cool comment. Marcelo and I enjoyed putting this together and sharing it. Stay well, Dean

Hello Mark! Glad you enjoyed the song! Actually, the drums are not live (Steve Slate VST), but Marcelo has a certain talent with virtual drums that is indeed admirable, Nevertheless, what a great complement, Mark! Thanks for the wonderful feedback! Dean